Double-sided LCD panel

• US 6,819,380 B2
• Filed: 06/11/2003
• Issued: 11/16/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 10/11/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: InnoLux Corporation
• Original Assignee: Toppoly Optoelectronics Corporation (InnoLux Corporation)
• Inventors: Wu, I-Wei, Ho, Shyuan-Jeng, Chuang, Li-Sen, Ting, Dai-Liang, Wen, Chi-Jain
• Primary Examiner(s): Dudek, James A.
• Application Number:
  US10/458,640
• Publication Number:
  US 20040070711A1
• Time in Patent Office: 524 Days
• Field of Search: 349/63, 349/114
• US Class Current: 349/114
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133342 for double-sided displays
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133555 Transflectors
• CPC Class Codes: G02F 1/133616 Front illuminating devices

Abstract

A double-sided LCD panel is comprised of a transflective LCD panel and a light-emitting device. One surface of the transflective panel is used in the transparent mode, and the other surface is used in the reflective mode, achieving the goal of double-sided display. The light-emitting device may function as the front light source of the display surface in the reflective mode and the backlit source of the display surface in the transparent mode. In this manner, one can use a single panel for double screen display. This can simultaneously satisfy the requirements of light-weighted products and lowering the manufacturing cost.

Claims

1. A double-sided liquid crystal display (LCD) panel, which comprises:

a transflective display panel, including;

a first transparent substrate, which allows a beam of light to come in and go out and functions as a reflective display panel;

a second transparent substrate, which functions as a transparent display panel, wherein a container space is inserted between the second transparent substrate and the first transparent substrate;

a liquid crystal material, which fills the container space, wherein a voltage is imposed to control light that passes through the liquid crystal material;

a plurality of electrodes formed on the first transparent substrate and the second transparent substrate for imposing a voltage on the liquid crystal material;

a partial reflective layer, which is formed on a surface of the second transparent substrate to allow part of incident light to be reflected and go out through the first transparent substrate while the rest of the incident light to penetrate through the partial reflective layer and go out through the second transparent substrate; and

a light-emitting device, which is installed on one side of the first transparent substrate to provide the incident light and functions as a front light source of the reflective display panel and a backlit source of the transparent display panel when the environment is dark.

2. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 1, wherein the light-emitting device is comprised of a light source and a light-guiding plate, the light-guiding plate being disposed on one side of the first transparent substrate, the light source sending a beam of light to the light-guiding plate to reflect and provide homogeneous incident light.

3. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 1 further comprising a plurality of thin film transistors (TFT'"'"'s) for controlling the plurality of electrodes and the voltage they impose on the liquid crystal material.

4. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 1, wherein the reflective display panel contains a polarizer and a phase-difference wavelength plate for blocking unnecessary incident light and environmental light.

5. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 1, wherein the transparent display panel contains a polarizer and a phase-difference wavelength plate for blocking unnecessary incident light and environmental light.

6. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 1, wherein the transparent display panel contains an anti-reflective (AR) mask for enhancing the contrast and image quality of the transparent display panel.

7. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 1, wherein the AR mask is a black matrix.

8. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 7, wherein the black matrix is made of a material selected from black resin and Cr/CrO_X.

9. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 7, wherein the black matrix is formed on a surface of the second transparent substrate.

10. The double-sided LCD panel of claim 7, wherein the black matrix is a layer in the layered TFT'"'"'s.